Homeless man finds baby inside rubbish bin

Homeless man finds baby inside rubbish bin

A baby weighing 4kg wrapped in a plastic bag was found inside a rubbish bin outside a liquor store in Southernwood‚ East London.

The discovery was made by a homeless man scavenging for food in the bin.

Centre manager Eric Moss said the “big” baby was still wet and had long black hair.

Police have opened an inquest docket following the discovery of the baby.

Spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said it was a foetus possibly dumped after an abortion. “We have opened the inquiry and the foetus is in the state mortuary. No arrests have been made so far. We still follow the information.”

Masimanyane Women’s Support spokeswoman Lesley-Ann Foster said the government and NGO should work together to prevent teenage pregnancy. Foster said teenage pregnancies often contributed a lot to the problem of unwanted pregnancy which then leads to abortion.

“But we don’t actually know the real circumstances surrounding how the foetus ended there and we should not be too tough on the mother because where there is pregnancy there is a man involved.”

Foster called for the society to also interrogate the role played by men in issues of teenage pregnancies. “We don’t know the role of men and the influence they might have played in unwanted pregnancies.”